ABSTRACT
Local government bodies used to be primarily responsible for water resources management. The laws empowering OFWAT to control water charges, and the more recent legislation forbidding water companies to disconnect households, bear the traces of many previous efforts to advance societal health and protect people’s rights to resources. The other major remit of the regional committees is to examine the types and numbers of complaints from water users. Water users have a rather different relationship with the other major water regulator in the United Kingdom, the Drinking Water Inspectorate. Water management forms a large proportion of the Environment Agency’s responsibilities. It monitors and measures rainfall, river flows and aquifer levels, licenses abstraction, inspects discharges to water courses, punishes polluters and promotes demand management.
